Terrorism deaths around the world rise by 80% – Reports

17/11/2015 12:14

A think tank report by the Institute for Economics and Peace in its 2015 Global terrorism index, released in London, recently has revealed that the number of people killed in terrorist attacks has jumped by 80 per cent in 2014 as 11 nations suffered more than 500 deaths.

It noted that the terrorists linked to Islamic State and Boko Haram accounted for 51 per cent of the deaths in 2014.

Steve Killelea, the think tank’s founder, said that the institute estimated the cost of terrorism in 2014 at $52.9 billion.

He said that five nations including, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria bore the brunt of the attacks, suffering 78 per cent of the deaths recorded.

Killelea said that almost 10,000 people died in terrorist attacks in Iraq, while the number of deaths in Nigeria soared to more than 7,500, it said.

“The significant increase in terrorist activity has meant that its ramifications are being felt more widely throughout the world.

“This highlights the strong interconnection between the current refugee crisis, terrorism and conflict,” it said.

Killelea said that 10 of the 11 nations most affected by terrorism were also among those with the highest rates of refugees and internal displacement.